Archive for Positive Thinking

This is a busy time of year for all of us. So in the spirit of not really blogging but blogging… I am attaching some thoughts that are original… but they make me strive! So, here’s something to think about.

And I thought this was a powerful message from CNBC. It’s what you would have if, 10 years ago, you had invested $1000 in each of these stocks.

Since I am writing a blog on being positive, combined with the fact that I am a Baltimore Orioles baseball fan, I thought I would post something that is positive. Plus, yesterday was the baseball trade deadline, which means nothing to you unless you are a crazy baseball fan.

So, in the genre of positive… how about a 1966 Hank Bauer baseball card picture? It just makes me laugh. Random, right?

I mean, look at Hank’s face. Positive, right?

Anyway, I thought I would digress a bit for the blog. Dale Carnegie is famous for his book on How To Win Friends and Influence People.

For over 60 years people have been applying these principles for success. Recently, one of our lawyers went to a six week seminar and told me that he felt that it truly impacted his life. Then, he emailed a quick synopsis of some principles that he learned. Pretty good stuff!

Principles from How to Win Friends and Influence People

Become a Friendlier Person

1. Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.

2. Give honest, sincere appreciation.

3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.

4. Become genuinely interested in other people.

5. Smile.

6. Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.

7. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.

8. Talk in terms of other person’s interests.

9. Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.

Win People to Your Way of Thinking

1. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.

2. Show respect for the other person’s opinion. Never say, “you’re wrong.”

The Sunday night NFL football game has the New England Patriots traveling to Indianapolis to play the Colts. It’s popular to pick the Patriots to win because people (and I mean “people” as in ESPN “every second Patriots Network”) say that Tom Brady with his three Super Bowl rings, is the golden boy and will lead the Patriots to victory.

If you are a Patriots fan, you recall the glory days of their three Super Bowl victories. You realize that they have won 5 straight games.

If you aren’t a Patriots fan, then you recall that they got caught cheating for all three of those Super Bowl win years; that the NFL destroyed the cheating tapes before the public could see how much they cheated, and that you notice that no one ever talks about the cheating or that the Patriots have not won a Super Bowl without cheating.

In fact, you also pick the Colts to win on Sunday night because, since 2009 Brady is 3-11 on the road against teams with a winning record. What do you think? Do I sound like a Patriots fan? It’s how you look at it.

I admit it, I just enjoyed writing those last paragraphs. But, I realize that this is not a football pick em column. Instead, I want to segue from the Patriot success/failure thinking to NBA basketball and Kobe Bryant .

This past week, Kobe Bryant just set the NBA record for most missed field goals (shots) in a career. He passed former Boston Celtic great John Havlicek.

Now, it’s real easy to focus on all those misses. Or, to focus on what it also might mean. To focus on the negative would be to think that he just shoots too much or that he sure did miss a lot.

If you are looking for the positive for Kobe, then it means that he is not afraid of failure. It also means that he has been able to play a long time. Just staying at it! And that his team has always counted on him to shoot. And you might also think that Kobe’s Los Angeles teams have won five NBA championships.

Have you ever heard someone say, “he is so lucky” or “I wish I could get those breaks”. Yes, it’s either thinking like that or thinking that life is a moveable feast.

And for pic o’ day, it’s real easy to feel like this by the end of the week!

Byron Wien, of Blackstone Advisory Partners, decided to list the life lessons that he has learned in the eighty years of his life. What especially caught my attention was that he wrote these and wrote that he is determined to apply these during the next 80 years. I like that positive thinking! Here are his abbreviated thoughts:

Concentrate on finding a big idea that will make an impact on the people you want to influence. If you want to be successful and live a long, stimulating life, keep yourself at risk intellectually all the time.

Network intensely. Nurture your network by sending articles, books and emails to people to show you’re thinking about them. Write op-eds and thought pieces for major publications. Organize discussion groups to bring your thoughtful friends together.

Get enough sleep. Seven hours will do until you’re sixty, eight from sixty to seventy, nine thereafter which might include eight hours at night and a one hour afternoon nap.

Evolve. Try to think of your life in phases so you can avoid a burn-out. Do the numbers crunching in the early phase of your career. Try developing concepts later on. Stay at risk throughout the process.

Travel extensively. Try to get everywhere before you wear out. Attempt to meet local interesting people where you travel and keep in contact with them throughout your life. See them when you return to a place.

When meeting someone new, try to find out what formative experience occurred in their lives before they were seventeen. It is my belief that some important event in everyone’s youth has an influence on everything that occurs afterwards.

On philanthropy, my approach is to try to relieve pain rather than spread joy. Music, theatre and art museums have many affluent supporters, give the best parties and it can add to your social luster in a community. They don’t need you. Social service, hospitals and educational institutions can make the world a better place and help the disadvantaged make their way toward the American dream.

Younger people are naturally insecure and tend to overplay their accomplishments. Most people don’t become comfortable with who they are until they’re in their 40’s. By that time they can underplay their achievements and become a nicer more likeable person. Try to get to that point as soon as you can.

Take the time to pat those who work for you on the back when they do good work. Most people are so focused on the next challenge that they fail to thank the people who support them. It is important to do this. It motivates and inspires people and encourages them to perform at a higher level.

When someone extends a kindness to you, write them a hand-written note, not an e-mail. Handwritten notes make an impact and are not quickly forgotten.

At the beginning of every year think of ways you can do your job better than you have ever done it before. Write it down and look at what you have set out for yourself when the year is over.

Never retire. If you work forever, you can live forever. I know there is an abundance of biological evidence against this, but I’m going with this theory anyway.

Well, those are his thoughts, his recipe on life. Almost a recipe for getting things accomplished. And for pic o’ day, here’s a recipe of a different kind:

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